Woven fabric



P 27, 1932- LE ROY F. EMERY 1,879,144

WOVEN FABRI 0 Filed April 28. 1930 QQQQ INVFNTOR I ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 27, 1932 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE LE ROY F. EMERY, OFBROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HAMILTON-WADE COMPANY, OF BROCKTON,MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS WOVEN FABRIC Applicationfiled April 28,

This invention relates to woven fabrics of leather or the likeparticularly adapted for shoe uppers, and to the method of producing thesame.

Such a woven fabric, to be suitable and desirable for the purpose ofshoe uppers and like uses, must meet several requirements. Among thesemay be mentioned pleasing appearance or design, flexibility andstrength. Another quality which is very desirable in the fabric,particularly when secured without impairing the strength of the fabric,is a capacity for ventilation. By means of my improved method disclosedherein, I am enabled to produce such a fabric of very pleasing designhaving a flexibility greater than.

the body portion of the fabric per se and of great strength whether ornot the fabric is provided with ventilating openings. The provision ofsuch an improved method and fabric comprises the object of my invention.

In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated certain specificembodiments of and uses for my invention but it will be understood thatthe invention can be otherwise embodied and that the drawing is not tobe construed as defining or limiting the scope of the invention, theclaims appended hereto being relied upon for that purpose.

Referring to the figures of the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view ofa shoe having portions of its upper constructed of my improved fabric;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the toe portion of a shoe upper beingconstructed in accord-.

ance with my invention;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating the fabric elements perforatedfor ventilating purposes; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the fabric shown in Fig. 3.

In the drawing, I have illustrated a shoe 10 in which a portion 11 ofthe quarter is constructed of my improved woven fabric. This fabric andthe method of making the same are illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 of thedrawing.

In Fig. 2, I have illustrated a body portion 13 of leather or othersheet material cut out to pattern to form the vamp of a shoe. In

1930. Serial No. 447,924.

producing a woven upper fabric in accordance with my invention, I slitthe body portion 13 in relatively spaced lines 14, these lines in theaccompanying drawing being ilor lustrated as parallel and inclined withrespect to the longitudinal axis of the vamp. It will be noted that eachslit line, as illustrated in Fig. 2, is discontinuous, i. e., eachcomprises a plurality of relatively short dis- 13 and the strips 16. Inthe form of my in vention illustrated in the drawing, the lines 14 areequally spaced andthe slits-15 thereof are each of a lengthsubstantially equal to the distance between the lines, also the adjacentends of the slits are brought so close together that the edges of theadjacent strips extending therethrough are in close proximity to eachother whereby to produce a checkered pattern of squares of which thestrips 16 and the upper body 13 form the alternate squares in closeproximity to each other. The pattern may be varied to produce differenteffects by employing strips of different colors. The slitting of thebody portion 13 makes the fabric very flexible and at the same time itretains its strength since the slits are discontinuous in a mannerleaving the slitted body closely connected all along the slit lines. Asherein shown, the parallel slit lines are disposed at substantially anangle of 45 to the axis of the vamp 1 2 and the parallel strips 16 aredisposed at'substantia'lly right angles thereto so that the individualchecks of the weave are located obliquely or diagonally in the shoe.While this arrangement produces a pleasing design, the angle of the slitlines may be varied to suit the taste.

Shoes with uppers of woven fabric of this general nature have manydesirable qualities. Among these may be mentioned great flexibility,comfortable fit and pleasing appearance. Another feature, however, whichis desirable, particularly in warm weather, is the quality ofventilation and, while the woven fabric shown in Figs. 1 and 2 issufliciently loose as to provide considerable ventilation in a shoe, itmay be desirable to make further provision in this respect. In Figs. 3and 4, I have shown a novel manner in which this may be accomplishedwithout in any manner impairing the strength of the fabric.

The fabric body portion 2lmay be slitted at 20 in like manner as thebody portion 13 and, in addition thereto, I provide holes orperforations 22 of any desired size in the body between each two slits.I also provide cooperating holes 23 in the strips 24, these holespreferably being so spaced as to register with the holes 22 when wovenin the body to form the fabric. The holes 22 and 28 will ordinarily beformed at equally spaced intervals and register with each other but itwill be understood that it is not essential that the holes should alwaysform through perforations at each check in the fabric. It will be clearthat these holes provide additional ventilation into and through thefabric without in any manner causing a weakening thereof.

It is believed that the construction and advantages of my invention willnow be clear without further description herein. While I haveillustrated my invention as embodied in the fabric of a shoe upper, itwill be apparent that it may be usefully applied to the ornamentation ofsheet material of any description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe upper having its body portion slitted in relatively spacedlines, and strips of sheet material woven alternately through the slitsin a manner producing a checkered pattern, certain of the overlappingportions of the body portion and strips having registering ventilationopenings.

2. A shoe upper having its body portion slitted in relatively spacedlines, and strips of sheet material woven alternately through the slitsin a manner producing 'a checkered pattern, the strips and body portionhaving regularly spaced perforations therethrough which form ventilationopenings in the woven fabric. 1

3. A shoe upper having its body portion discontinuously slitted inrelatively spaced lines each comprising a plurality of relatively shortdistinct slits, and strips of leather or the like woven through theslits, certain of the overlapping parts of thebody portion 5. The methodof making" a ventilating v woven fabric of leather or the like,consisting of discontinuously slitting a body fabric in relativelyspaced lines, perforating the body fabricbetween the lines, and weavingperforated strips through the slits.

LE ROY F. EMERY.

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